5mm Actual size Yellow crazy Image courtesy of Qld Govt We need YOU to help us stamp out the tramp ! Two species of highly invasive ants, electric ants and yellow crazy ants, are found in Far North . These tramp ants, so-called because of their tendency to hitch a ride with people, are among the world’s 100 worst . They are a serious social, economic, agricultural and environmental pest, capable of inflicting devastating impacts on our tropical outdoor lifestyle, tourism and agricultural industries, pets and livestock, and the unique native plants and of our World Heritage landscape.

Conservation Volunteers, with funding from the How you can help: Australian Government’s Caring for Our Country • Support Conservation Volunteers when they visit you initiative, and supported by the Wet Tropics • Learn more about electric ants and yellow crazy ants: Management Authority and Biosecurity Queensland, http://www.daff.qld.gov.au/4790_6653.htm is conducting surveillance along the boundary of the • Inspect all purchases of plants and soil for tramp ants Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, between Palm Cove • Check your camping equipment and picnic gear too and Edmonton and around Bingil Bay and Mission • Spray pot plants with insecticide when moving home Beach. • Only dispose of vegetation, plants and soil at approved council sites Conservation Volunteers will be laying baits, talking to • Report illegal dump sites to : local residents and organising awareness-raising events Cairns Regional Council on 4044 3044 in these areas. Please help by spreading the word and Cassowary Coast Regional Council on 4030 2222 allowing volunteers to inspect your property. The Biosecurity Queensland on 13 25 23 ants are easier to eradicate if identified early, but may • If you find suspected tramp ants, call: severely impact on your family and pets if not treated Biosecurity Queensland 13 25 23. swiftly.

Fact sheet Fact Don’t delay - remember, early detection of tramp ants is vital. The longer you wait, the harder it is to get rid of them.

http://www.wettropics.gov.au/stamp-out-tramp-ants.html Yellow crazy ants Behaviour ( gracilipes) Long slender body – 5mm body length Both electric and yellow crazy ants lay their eggs in damp Very long legs and antennae niches, under logs, leaf litter, stones, in boxes, plant pots, Brownish-yellow or orange-yellow, with a brown abdomen, furniture and even wall cavities.They also take over the sometimes striped burrows and nesting holes of birds and other animals Looks like a small green ant but yellow (e.g. parrots, owls and gliders). They reproduce mainly in Erratic, frantic, “crazy” movement the wet season, spreading out from the source colony by Able to forage day and night but less active in intense heat ‘budding’, and form super-colonies with multiple queens. and heavy rain Yellow crazy ants are capable of spreading up to 1km per year and both species spread into new areas through Yellow crazy ants are opportunistic feeders and consume movement of timber, soil, vegetation, pot plants, picnic both sugars and proteins (survey teams use a mix of and camping gear, etc. tuna and jam as bait). They don’t bite or sting, but spray formic acid to subdue and kill prey, and sometimes Tramp ants ‘farm’ honeydew (a sugary liquid) by protecting as a defensive mechanism when disturbed. This can sap-sucking (like scale and ), which leads to irritate skin and eyes, blinding pets, livestock and spread of sooty mould. Sooty mould weakens plants, and native animals. Few small animals or insects survive can lead to dieback of plants and crops (sugar cane, fruit in areas they colonise. Chicks and young animals are trees, etc). In addition to sugars tramp ants require protein particularly at risk. to breed, and in infected areas, few other invertebrates (including native ants, insects, spiders, worms, etc.) or Yellow crazy ants have recently been found in Little small vertebrates (like frogs and skinks) survive. Both Mulgrave National Park, part of the Wet Tropics World species forage on the ground and high up into the canopy. Heritage Area. To learn more, watch and share this YouTube video about yellow crazy ants: http://youtu.be/GgG-LDTRmkM Impact on the Wet Tropics

The Wet Tropics World Heritage Area is a truly exceptional Electric ants place, which attracts tourists from all over the world who (Wasmannia auropunctata) come to experience our spectacular scenery and unique Tiny – about 1.5mm in length plants and animals. This extraordinary ecosystem is a Light / golden brown in colour living museum containing the world’s oldest continuous Active 24 hours a day in most weather conditions rainforest with over 700 species of plants and nearly 70 Likes moist areas, especially those close to water vertebrate animals found nowhere else in the world – a Tend to move slowly, often in distinct foraging lines real hotspot for biodiversity. For those of us lucky enough Inflict a painful sting to call it home, it also provides a unique sense of place and a stunning backdrop to our daily lives. Electric ants inject venom when they sting, which can result in painful, itchy pimples that take a long time to clear up, Tramp ants are a serious threat to the Wet Tropics World and occasionally triggering severe allergic reactions. They Heritage Area and the surrounding region. Our warm, target the eyes and orifices of animals, repeatedly stinging humid climate is ideal for their spread. Electric and yellow and trying to blind them. They can be a serious nuisance in crazy ants could have a devastating impact on our unique infected areas, stinging people around the home, the farm, and plants and animals, including iconic and threatened at tourist sites. species like cassowaries and spotted-tailed quolls. The ants’ ability to forage high in the canopy means that both Electric ants frequently colonise people’s homes, attracted to ground and tree-dwelling animals are in danger. The food (like peanut butter and hotdogs which are used as bait by region’s tourism and agricultural industries could also be survey teams). They have even been known to take a swim in adversely affected. backyard pools, and take over children’s playgrounds. If caught early enough, eradication of tramp ants in urban areas is fairly straightforward, but once they start to invade more remote, rugged natural areas, they will be almost impossible to stop.

Please help us stamp out tramp ants before they destroy the irreplaceable diversity of the Wet Tropics.

Image courtesy of Qld Govt